Ecuador

Greetings friends and family! And hola to Riccardo - my most recent follower! We´re in Cuenca, Equador.

Ecuador

Area- Roughly the same size as NZ

Capital - Quito

Languages - Spanish and Quechua

Money - US dollar

Phrases - bacan (cool), guacala (disgusting), farra (party)

Time - GMT minus 5hr

Ecuador is very different to what we have experienced on our journey so far. It´s very green, has rolling hills and seems more prosperous in comparison to what we have previously seen in South America. Cuenca is an old city, steeped in history. It has an abundance of beautiful old churches and cathedrals - all have beautiful architecture and are richly embellished inside. I counted nine large churches within a five hundred metre radius.

Our alojamiento (accommaodation) is adequate! The beds are hard, the pillows are very lumpy, and the door to the ensuite doesn´t close! That´s very unfortunate as the toilet STINKS! (Plumbing is an issue throughout Sth America - in fact, everyone is told DO NOT PUT TOILET PAPER DOWN THE TOILET! Instead it must be put into a bin beside the toilet.) Hence, our room smells like the inside of a rotten cabbage! However, the upside is the hostel is on the sixth floor and looks out over the old city. From the window we look down on the old orange ceramic roofs, and the vege gardens in the convent below.

Yes.... we´ve visited more markets! We seem to gravitate towards food. The photos show a woman preparing sugar cane - skinning and cutting it into small pieces for sale (a common sight), and a boy selling pineapple and melon he´s prepared for sale(also a very common sight). The fruit was so sweet and juicy! The bottom photo shows the typical scene of young boys (and men) polishing shoes for a few cents at a time.

Adios